NAHT
Call us: 0300 30 30 333
Home Menu

Safeguarding and support for pupils

 
Pupil wellbeing icon.jpg

NAHT members are at the forefront of safeguarding children. School leaders are committed to keeping children safe, so they can learn well. NAHT believes that all pupils should receive the support they need to maintain their well-being and achieve their potential, both within school and from wider services including health and social care.

NAHT is campaigning to:

Enable schools to play their part in supporting pupils' well-being

  • Lobby for pupils and schools to get the support they need from wider services including health, social care, police and youth services
  • Influence the implementation of the proposals from the mental health green paper, including the senior lead for mental health and mental health support teams
  • Support schools to access relevant, high-quality training and resources to enable pupils to exercise their right to support for their mental well-being.

 

Support schools to safeguard and protect pupils

  • Engage with the DfE over proposed changes to the role of the Designated Safeguarding Lead
  • Influence changes to Keeping Children Safe In Education, Working Together and Sexual Violence and harassment guidance
  • Campaign to improve online safety for children and young people
  • Press the government to ensure home educated children are adequately safeguarded
  • Promote guidance and resources to support schools to protect children at risk of harm including involvement with violence and other crime.

 

Enable schools to support vulnerable groups of pupils

  • Campaign to ensure pupils with SEND can receive the support they need from schools and wider services
  • Press for improved alternative provision and collaborative approaches across communities to support pupils excluded from school
  • Provide information to schools to help them to support disadvantaged children
  • Enable schools to make informed decisions regarding parental requests to home educate
  • Ensure reforms to behaviour guidance and networks is evidence-based and appropriate for all schools and a diverse pupil population. 
 

Home Office relaunches county lines campaign

As part of the government's ongoing commitment to tackle serious and violent crime, the Home Office has relaunched its county lines awareness-raising campaign that includes a guidance booklet and posters.

County lines is the term used to describe urban gangs supplying drugs to suburban areas, as well as market and coastal towns, by using dedicated mobile phone lines or 'deal lines'. Gangs use children and vulnerable people to move drugs and money to these areas. Once caught up in county lines, exploited individuals are at risk of extreme physical and/or sexual violence, gang recriminations and trafficking.

To safeguard vulnerable young people from being exploited by county line gangs, the Home Office has relaunched its campaign to raise awareness among teachers and school staff who may encounter victims of the signs to spot and encourage staff to safeguard in line with their organisation's safeguarding policy.

The signs to spot are: 

  • persistently going missing from school or home, or being found out-of-area;
  • unexplained acquisition of money, clothes, or mobile phones;
  • excessive receipt of texts or phone calls;
  • relationships with controlling, older individuals or gang association;
  • leaving home or care without explanation;
  • suspicion of self-harm, physical assault or unexplained injuries;
  • parental concerns;
  • significant decline in school performance;
  • self-harm or significant changes in emotional well-being.

The Home Office has produced a campaign pack that has resources, including a guidance booklet and posters, which you can use to raise awareness of county lines among your staff. If you would like a campaign pack, please contact James.Gilbert13@homeoffice.gov.uk.

 

Last updated 15 February 2018

First published 02 August 2019
;